Ranking Big 12 football recruiting classes after 2022 national signing day

With national signing day behind us, how do the Big 12 teams rank according to 247Sports composite rankings?

National signing day has come and gone, and the Oklahoma Sooners finished with a bang. After watching their team recruiting ranking fall as low as 27th after Lincoln Riley left for USC, new Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables and his staff finished with a flurry of unexpected signings, including three commitment flips on national signing day.

Though the Sooners still have five-star targets Josh Conerly and Lebbeus Overton in their sites for 2022, the recruiting class is already one of the best in the country. With their 21 commitments, the Oklahoma Sooners rose to No. 8 in the nation according to 247Sports composite team rankings. Pretty incredible, considering they don’t have a single five-star commitment or signee at this point in the cycle.

Conerly or Overton could change that, but regardless, it’s a strong class that will set the Oklahoma Sooners to compete for conference titles and playoff spots down the road.

The Texas Longhorns finished at the top of the Big 12, but they also have seven more signees than the Oklahoma Sooners in this cycle. Despite their improved play in the 2021 season, the Kansas Jayhawks sit at the bottom of the Big 12 with just seven commitments in the class.

With that, let’s take a look at where each team stands in the final 247Sports 2022 team composite rankings.

Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Mario Williams to enter the transfer portal

Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Mario Williams decided to follow his quarterback into the transfer portal.

The dominoes keep falling for the Oklahoma Sooners as yet another player has decided to enter the transfer portal. This time it’s freshmen wide receiver, Mario Williams. Williams took to his social media account to announce that he’ll follow fellow freshman Caleb Williams into the transfer portal.

Williams came into Oklahoma with a lot of fanfare and showed flashes of great ability despite Oklahoma’s inconsistencies on offense throughout the season. His best game came against Texas Tech when he hauled in five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Recruited by Lincoln Riley and Dennis Simmons, Williams was the number four rated receiver on 247Sports composite rankings and the 43rd overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting cycle. Hailing from Plant City, Florida Williams also committed to play baseball at the University of Oklahoma.

Hayes Fawcett, of On3 recruiting, added that Caleb Williams decision to leave Oklahoma is what spurred Mario Williams’ decision to test the transfer portal waters.

As mentioned in a previous piece on Sooners Wire, it isn’t surprising to see Mario Williams follow Caleb Williams into the transfer portal. The two players grew close during their recruitments and envisioned playing together. It looks as if wherever Caleb goes, Mario could follow.

With Williams (the receiver) declaring for the transfer portal it only furthers the notion that Oklahoma will have to start looking around in the portal to add depth to the wide receiver room.

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Top 10 prospects in the state of Texas for the 2023 recruiting class

All 10 of them are uncommitted at the moment.

The two primary football programs in the state, Texas and Texas A&M, are putting an emphasis on trying to keep the top in-state talent from leaving the state. Continue reading “Top 10 prospects in the state of Texas for the 2023 recruiting class”

Texas Football: 2022 recruiting class climbs to No. 5 in the nation

Steve Sarkisian’s first full recruiting class at Texas is now ranked No. 5 in the nation.

Texas’ 2022 recruiting class jumped up one spot from No. 6 to No. 5 in the nation in the most recent update of 247Sports’ recruiting rankings.

This move comes after elite kicker Will Stone, one of if not the best kicking prospect in the nation, was given a three-star rating by 247Sports. He wasn’t the only specialist that received a higher ranking, as long snapper Lance St. Louis went from unranked to a two-star recruit making him the highest ranked long snapper in the nation.

Special teams coach Jeff Banks is putting an emphasis on having the best of the best regardless of what side of the ball. Special teams has seemed to be a weak spot after the Longhorns lost Michael Dickson to the NFL, and gaining some stability will allow Texas to use special teams as a weapon, and not as a last resort.

Headlined by players such as quarterback Maalik Murphy and safety Bryan Allen, the move up to the fifth spot has Texas with the best class in the Big 12 and nationally ranked higher than schools such as Rutgers, Penn State, USC, and Oklahoma.

Locked on Longhorns Podcast: Sarkisian’s impact, Texas Tech preview

Locked on Longhorns host Patrick Conn touches on a few key thoughts from Steve Sarkisian’s introductory press conference.

Texas men’s basketball faces a tough conference matchup against No. 15 Texas Tech in Austin on Wednesday. Continue reading “Locked on Longhorns Podcast: Sarkisian’s impact, Texas Tech preview”

Texas Football: 2021 recruiting class is sitting within top 20 nationally

After the first day of the early signing period, 247Sports composite ranks the Texas Longhorns class among the top 20.

Texas’ 2021 recruiting class ended the first day of the early signing period as strong as they could have hoped at this point. Continue reading “Texas Football: 2021 recruiting class is sitting within top 20 nationally”

Michigan State lands commitment of three-star lineman Kevin Wigenton

Michigan State lands its second offensive line commit in the 2021 class.

The Juice Squad has another member.

Michigan State has landed its second offensive lineman recruit in the form of Kevin Wigenton out of Princeton, NJ.

Wigenton, an offensive guard listed at 6-foot-5, 290 pounds, is a three-star prospect, ranked as the 41st-best guard in the class of 2021 by the 247Sports composite rankings. Wigenton is rated at a .8366 in the composite rankings. Coincidentally he is the third member of Michigan State’s 2021 class to have that exact .8366 rating.

Wigenton chose Michigan State over a final four that included Maryland, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee. Wigenton also had power five offers from Indiana and Vanderbilt.

The HunSchool product is the eighth member of Michigan State’s 2021 recruiting class, which as of publishing ranks 28th in the country and ninth in the Big Ten. The recruiting class is expected to continue to grow this week, with a number of MSU targets set to announce their commitments soon.

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